Thornton's stuff has improved since June 1_BINARY_1101312

OAKLAND -- The Matt Thornton the Red Sox saw in Chicago in late May isn't necessarily the pitcher they traded for

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By
Tim Britton
Posted Jul. 13, 2013 @ 10:50 pm

OAKLAND -- The Matt Thornton the Red Sox saw in Chicago in late May isn't necessarily the pitcher they traded for.

In two appearances against Boston at U.S. Cellular Field, Thornton wasn't exactly impressive. In the first game of the series, the lefty came on with a four-run lead in the seventh and walked David Ortiz and Mike Napoli. Both came around to score on a Will Middlebrooks double.

One night later, on in the eighth to protect a 2-0 lead, Thornton walked leadoff man Jarrod Saltalamacchia and allowed a single to Jacoby Ellsbury before being pulled.

It was a week after that, though, that Thornton's season started turning around.

The Red Sox traded for Thornton largely to be a left-handed specialist. Although Thornton's overall numbers are down this year from his peak seasons in Chicago, he has gotten lefties out at the second-best rate of his career.

The quick criticisms of the deal, if there are any, is that Thornton is at a decided downturn in his career. At 36, his strikeout rate has declined steadily from where it was during his All-Star campaign of 2010, and right-handers are hitting .320 off the lefty.

Those things are true when looking at the season as a whole, but Thornton has shown improved numbers over the last month and a half.

There's been a distinct inflection point in his season, coinciding with the start of June. After he walked the only man he faced in a May 31 loss to the Athletics, Thornton had thrown 16 innings on the season, allowing seven earned runs on 15 hits. He had walked as many batters as he had struck out -- seven.

Right-handers in particular were killing Thornton, with 10 hits in 26 at-bats. His velocity for the two months sat between 93 and 95 most of the time, with occasional forays to 96.

Since the start of June, Thornton has thrown 12 innings, allowing five earned runs on 10 hits. More importantly, he's struck out 14 and walked only three.

Right-handers are six-for-23 off Thornton in that span.

Thornton's velocity has also ticked up in his last several outings. Since the final week of June, he's been flirting with 97 more consistently and sitting at 96.

He credits that to some changes in his routine.

"It's about adjustments," Thornton said. "It's one of those things I had to learn, to take care of myself in a different way. I've adjusted things in my long-toss program, my throwing program, and that's helped my velocity jump up over the last month, month and a half.

"April, May, I wasn't striking many guys out. Had a lot of 0-2 counts and elevated fastballs, bounced breaking balls, and they put them in play. June and on, getting back to more of a strikeout kind of thing and feeling good, feeling in sync and feeling mechancally sound."